I left at 2am and traveled to NYC for a 7am meeting with Dr. Miro. After an oversleeping snafu, he hustled out of the elevator at 8:30 and wrapped me in a big hug. He apologized profusely for his lateness and said how embarrassed he was, but he was glad we were able to connect.
We made small talk about New York, weather, the holidays, and Belgrade. This was the first big difference between Dr. Miro and every other surgeon I'd consulted with. From the hug, to offering up personal details about his life, to telling me how excited he was to give me the full Belgrade experience - he shifted from being a one dimensional doctor to being a complete person. When we spoke on medical items, that same knowledge and professionalism was there, but there was a genuine warmth and even excitement that of all the places I could've gone, I was choosing to be his guest.
Small talk shifted to medical talk. He confirmed everything I'd want: metoidioplasty with urethral lengthening, vaginectomy, scrotoplasty, and testicular implants. He confirmed I'd already had a hysterectomy. I asked if we would be able to do a mons resection at the time of surgery. He said 80% of the time it was doable, 20% of the time it was not, but unfortunately he wouldn't know until I was on the table. He said we could plan for it. Surgery would be under 3 hours. He said he averages 70-80 of these per year and has done over 1000 at this point.
He gave me my DHT and a homemade pump. I'm to do both twice a day. The DHT until I run out, pumping everyday until surgery. That is also something I'll have to do after surgery once I'm a little more healed.
His entire complication rate for surgery is 7%, and the majority of that is urethral issues. The other potential issue is how well the testicular implants settle. He said both were easily fixable, and he would take no fee for fixing any complications I had.
He also said if in the future I decide to pursue phalloplasty, he would offer a significant discount if I chose to return to Belgrade and have surgery with him. This offer has no expiration date - as long as he's still doctoring, it's on the table. That is a huge relief. While I do feel that meta is going to suit my needs, it's nice to know there's a cost effective road to phallo that isn't dependent on my insurance coverage.
We shifted to talk logistics. I was the third person looking for an end of March date, and he knew I was friends with one of those people. I told him I had spoken to the second guy as well, and we would all love to come together if possible. He was excited at the prospect of this. He felt that people were always in better spirits when they had friends to recover with. He owns a large apartment that he could put all of us in at once, depending on if any of us brought travel companions. He said that would be his preference, but he wanted everyone to be comfortable so he may divide it up into two apartments.
He asked how long I'd be able to stay. I'd have 5 weeks of vacation time and was planning to stay 2 weeks with maybe some extra days for touristy things. He said if I stayed 3 weeks in Belgrade he could remove my last catheter before I fly home. This is appealing, though I know it's more expensive than just coming home at 2 weeks and pulling the last catheter myself. I will have to think about it.
As we wrapped up, he texted me the contact information for his associates that I'd need to speak with to move forward with scheduling - Dr. Marta and Dr. Korac. My marching orders were to get home, send them an email, and get myself on a schedule for DHT application and pumping.
He walked with me a few blocks toward the station. It was unseasonably warm in New York today, and I mentioned how I loved the temperature, fog, and rain. He laughed and said I would love Belgrade in the spring then. We hugged, shook hands, and he told me to give him a call or email if I had any issues getting in touch with his associates.
